Telephones are an integral part of a global communications network that is continually expanding and evolving. The telephone is used every day for important communications between members of an organization, as a communication medium between businesses, and the like. It is essential that telephones be able to alert the users when they are to be used. This is accomplished in most instances by the use of a ringer. The ringer is activated by a ring voltage generator which provides a voltage to the ringer to activate it. Typical ring voltage generation involves a waveform such as a sinusoid which operates at a specific frequency and in a specific defined voltage range.
In order to properly activate the ringer of a specific telephone, the ring voltage generator must provide the proper waveform at the proper frequency. To this end, with the increasingly digital nature of communications, typical ring voltage generators generate the desired waveforms through the use of a digital circuit which reads a set of digital values. Such values are specific to a type of telephone, and depend upon frequency, voltage, and the like. Also, many typical telephone systems respond better to waveforms which differ in some aspects from traditional sinusoidal waveforms. Different telephones need different wave shapes. In other words, each telephone system may require modification of a standard waveform in order to properly operate.
The digital values for generating a ring voltage waveform are typically hard coded into the design of the waveform generator, that is, each telephone system has its own specific design including a specific waveform. When standard ring voltage generators generate the waveform indicated by the telephone as the proper waveform, in some instances, the standard waveform is not capable of activating the phone ringer due to differences between a standard waveform and the actual waveform required to activate the ringer. When this happens, the only way to fix the problem with the inability to generate the ring voltage waveform is to physically have the telephone and the ring voltage generator together, and to modify the design of the ring voltage generator. This is tedious and expensive, since the waveform is hard coded into the design of the ring voltage generator. To change the waveform, a new design for the ring voltage generator must be developed.
Therefore, there is a need in the art for a ring voltage generator that is adaptable to different telephones, ring voltage activation waveforms and the like. There is a further need for such a ring voltage generator that is capable of adjustment without a full redesign.